Biomedical subjects

Larry D Jamner

Publications and source records attributed to Larry D Jamner.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Toward mapping daily challenges of living with ADHD: maternal and child perspectives using electronic diaries.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has an impact on the family as well as the affected child. This study developed and tested an electronic diary for mapping the challenges of everyday family life in a sample of children with ADHD being treated with pharmacotherapy. Across 7 days, mothers and children (27 ADHD; 25 non-ADHD) independently reported their moods, behaviors, and social contexts every 30 min during nonschool hours. Symptomatic behaviors and negative moods were elevated in the ADHD group, combined with maternal perceptions of lower parenting effectiveness and quality of life. Differences in the contexts of maternal anger were salient, with mothers in the ADHD group more often angry when with their children and comparison mothers more often angry when not. Although mothers' diaries were more informative, children's diaries also distinguished the two groups, especially during mornings and weekends. The need for family-wide interventions, the utility of child self-reports, and the promise of electronic diaries are discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

The reinforcing effects of nicotine and stimulant medication in the everyday lives of adult smokers with ADHD: A preliminary examination.

Whereas the smoking prevalence rates in the general population are declining, rates among people diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) continue to be elevated. Previous research has shown that nicotine may improve attention and mood, suggesting that nicotine may help ameliorate the attentional and emotional problems associated with ADHD. The present study examined the effects of nicotine with and without stimulant medication on ADHD symptoms, moods, and arousal in the everyday lives of smokers with ADHD. A total of 10 smokers with ADHD who were being treated with stimulant medication were asked to abstain from smoking while participating in the study. Participants underwent four conditions in randomized order: (a) Nicotine patch+stimulant medication, (b) nicotine patch only, (c) placebo patch+stimulant medication, and (d) placebo patch only. Each condition continued for 2 days, during which self-reports of ADHD symptoms and moods were obtained using electronic diaries. Lightweight ambulatory monitors recorded cardiovascular activity at each diary entry. Smoking abstinence was verified by expired carbon monoxide and salivary cotinine analysis. Results showed that nicotine patches and stimulant medication alone and in combination reduced difficulty concentrating and core ADHD symptoms compared with placebo patch only. Borderline improvement in impatience and self-control was seen with nicotine patch administration primarily on day 1. Nicotine patches also tended to elevate systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with placebo patch during day 2. The findings suggest that smokers with ADHD experience nicotine-related reductions in ADHD symptoms during their everyday lives.

Administration, Cutaneous↗

PubMed2006

An electronic diary study of contextual triggers and ADHD: get ready, get set, get mad.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to examine context effects or provocation ecologies in the daily lives of children with ADHD. METHOD: Across 7 days, mothers and children (27 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] taking stimulant medication; 25 children without ADHD; ages 7-12 years) provided electronic diary reports every 30 +/- 5 minutes during non-school hours. Child and maternal perceptions of behaviors, moods, and interaction quality during preparatory and transitional ("getting ready") activities were compared with those during other activities. RESULTS: Maternal reports revealed that child symptomatic behaviors and negative moods, maternal negative moods, and parent-child disagreement were elevated in the ADHD but not in the comparison group while getting ready versus other activities. Children's self-ratings also revealed situational effects, indicating that school-age children with ADHD can give meaningful self-reports using carefully structured electronic diaries. CONCLUSIONS: Even when children with ADHD are receiving stimulant pharmacotherapy, the preparatory tasks of daily living are especially challenging and linked disproportionately to child behavior problems, parent negative affect, and contentious interactions. Treatment targeted on these transitional hurdles may improve child behavior patterns and enhance parent-child relationships and family harmony.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Paradoxical effects of social support on blood pressure reactivity among defensive individuals.

BACKGROUND: Social support can reduce cardiovascular responses to an acute stressor. However, prior clinical research suggests that defensive individuals may react negatively to social support. PURPOSE: This experiment examined whether emotional support provided during a speech stressor would escalate rather than decrease blood pressure (BP) reactivity among defensive individuals. METHODS: After completing personality measures, 176 female undergraduates were randomly assigned to give a speech in 1 of 3 social conditions: alone, or with a neutral or supportive confederate present. Mean arterial BP was assessed at baseline, immediately before, and during and after the stressor. RESULTS: In the supportive condition, defensiveness predicted higher BP reactivity during anticipation (beta = .35, p = .04) and delivery of the speech (beta = .32, p = .03), and longer recovery to baseline BP levels (beta = .35, p = .01). In the absence of support (i.e., alone and neutral conditions), defensiveness was not associated with BP reactivity. Defensiveness also predicted greater dissociation between subjective stress and BP responses (beta = .35, p = .05), but only in the supportive condition. CONCLUSIONS: According to results, the provision of social support during stressors does not benefit defensive individuals' BP reactivity but has the opposite effect.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Using ecologic momentary assessment to measure physical activity during adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: Examine the validity of using high-density electronic ecologic momentary assessment (EMA) to assess physical activity. EMA was further used to explore within- and between-subject variability in adolescent physical activity (PA) patterns. METHODS: Adolescents (n=526, 51% male) participated in EMA waves occurring approximately every 6 months between the 9th and 12th grade. Each wave extended over 4 consecutive days (Thursday to Sunday). Using a Palm III handheld computer, each participant reported his or her primary activity (e.g., exercise, walking, homework) every 30 (+/-10) minutes during waking hours. Heart rate (via Polar heart rate monitor) and activity counts (via wrist accelerometer) were simultaneously assessed during the EMA intervals. RESULTS: Overall, heart rates and accelerometer counts were greater for diary-reported exercise and walking than for nonphysical activities (p's<0.001). EMA revealed that the typical duration of exercise sessions was longer than walking sessions (p<0.05). Rates of walking and exercise were more consistent between waves (i.e., across high school) than within waves (i.e., across the 4 days of monitoring), most likely due to the significantly higher rates of walking and exercise occurring on weekdays as compared to weekend days (p's<0.001). Average rates of walking were greater for girls than boys, and the reverse was true for exercise. Rates of both walking and exercise declined steadily between 9th and 12th grade (p's<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity reported via EMA corresponded to objective activity indicators. EMA yielded information about within-person variability in PA that cannot be obtained readily from traditional self-report instruments. Given its potential for simultaneously assessing important physiologic, psychological, and contextual factors, EMA presents a promising approach to studying adolescent physical activity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Adolescents react to the events of September 11, 2001: focused versus ambient impact.

This study examined the perceived impact of the events of September 11, 2001, on adolescents distant from the disaster sites and compared these perceptions with changes in everyday moods. A survey of reactions to September 11 was completed 2-5 months after the events by 171 adolescents participating in a longitudinal study of stress and health. Electronic diary ratings of contemporaneous moods before and after the attacks were also compared. Many adolescents distant from the disaster sites reported changes in everyday activities and signs of distress along with some positive outcomes. Elevated levels of negative affect emerged when adolescents were asked directly about the event (focused impact), but no changes were detected in their ongoing, momentary mood reports before and after September 11 (ambient impact). Trait and electronic diary measures of anxiety independently predicted posttraumatic distress. Refined assessments are needed to evaluate the degree to which self-reported traumatic symptoms reflect significant clinical distress versus an attentional focus generated by the question-asking process.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Is there a link between adolescent cigarette smoking and pharmacotherapy for ADHD?

There is continuing concern that pharmacotherapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may raise the risk of smoking (the gateway hypothesis). Alternatively, unmedicated people with ADHD may use nicotine to improve attentional and self-regulatory competence (the self-medication hypothesis). From a community sample of 511 adolescents participating in a longitudinal health study, 27 were identified as having ADHD, and 11 of these were receiving pharmacotherapy. Self-report surveys, electronic diaries, and salivary cotinine all indicated that adolescents treated with pharmacotherapy for ADHD smoked less than their untreated counterparts over 2 years of high school. These convergent findings from 3 disparate indicators lend support to the self-medication hypothesis over the gateway hypothesis, although alternative explanations need further study. The findings also suggest that early treatment of psychological and behavioral problems may prevent or delay smoking initiation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Tobacco use across the formative years: a road map to developmental vulnerabilities.

Different vulnerabilities are launched or play a more active role at different developmental stages and different ages. Furthermore, the interplay between developmental and biological, psychosocial, and environmental vulnerabilities is expected to differ across stages of smoking. This article focuses on the intersection of vulnerability associated with adolescence with tobacco-use vulnerability resulting from biological, psychological, and environmental characteristics of an adolescent. Recommendations include the following: (a) Effectively treat childhood and adolescent behavioral and emotional disorders that place adolescents at risk; (b) target programs toward specific high-risk subgroups; (c) incorporate training in self-control, affect regulation, and healthy coping strategies into educational programs and extracurricular activities; (d) encourage youth to develop healthy sources of success and satisfaction; (e) encourage communities and states to launch environmental, policy, and regulatory initiatives to protect youth from tobacco; (f) consider bold initiatives that will require fundamental changes in public attitudes, including monetary rewards for nonsmoking, heightened penalties for facilitating and engaging in underage smoking, and government subsidies for substitute pharmacological agents.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Situations and moods associated with smoking in everyday life.

On 4 days, in everyday situations, 21 female and 26 male smokers used an electronic diary to record situations and moods at times of smoking and at control nonsmoking occasions. Self-reports of particular locations, activities, posture, consumption, social context, moods, and internal states were specifically associated with smoking. Real-time assessments in everyday situations provide useful information about the interplay of environmental factors and internal states in smoking. The findings suggest that conditioning and learning processes play a role in smoking and should be considered in smoking cessation programs.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Anxiety, affect, and activity in teenagers: monitoring daily life with electronic diaries.

OBJECTIVE: The everyday experiences of a community sample of adolescents differing in anxiety level were compared by means of electronic diaries. METHOD: One hundred fifty-five ninth-grade adolescents completed electronic diaries every 30 minutes for two 4-day intervals, reporting their moods, activities, social settings, dietary intake, smoking, and alcohol use. Teenagers were stratified into low-, middle-, or high-anxiety groups on the basis of diary ratings and, separately, questionnaire scores. RESULTS: High-anxiety teenagers, compared with low-anxiety teenagers, expressed higher levels not only of anxiety and stress but also of anger, sadness, and fatigue, along with lower levels of happiness and well-being. They reported fewer conversations and less recreational activity relative to achievement-oriented pursuits, stronger eating and smoking urges, and more tobacco use. There were few gender differences. Despite a tendency to spend less time with peers, high-anxiety teenagers were more likely to show reduced anxiety when in the company of friends. Sharper differentiations among anxiety subgroups emerged when stratification was based on diary reports rather than on questionnaire scores. CONCLUSION: Even when anxiety problems fall below diagnostic thresholds, the daily lives of anxious adolescents differ meaningfully from those of their peers in affective, behavioral, and contextual domains.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1987

Discrimination between intensity and affective pain descriptors: a psychophysiological evaluation.

The current study utilized a differential classical conditioning paradigm to test subjects' abilities to autonomically differentiate between pain descriptors that had previously been designated as belonging to the intensity or affective dimensions of pain perception. Twenty-one subjects were first tested for differences in spontaneous skin conductance responses (SCRs) and possible habituation to visual presentations of 23 intensity or affective pain descriptors. The classical conditioning procedure consisted of 46 12-sec visual trials. Each of the 23 pain descriptors was presented twice to each subject. Results indicated no differences in spontaneous SCR to intensity or affective descriptors and a clear habituation of response across trials. Results also indicated that the utilization of a differential classical conditioning paradigm produced an overall difference in SCR to the two sets of pain descriptors. The intensity-conditioned subjects demonstrated greater SC responsivity (P less than 0.0004) to intensity-related descriptors than to affective descriptors, and affective-conditioned subjects displayed greater skin conductance responsivity (P less than 0.0004) to affective pain descriptors than to pain intensity descriptors. These results provide psychophysiological support for a multidimensional conceptualization of pain and suggest the utility of classically conditioned autonomic responses in the further development and refinement of verbal pain descriptor scales.

Conditioning, Classical↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The ADHD spectrum and everyday life: experience sampling of adolescent moods, activities, smoking, and drinking.

Using an experience sampling methodology, the everyday lives of 153 adolescents with low, middle, or high levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) characteristics as assessed by either parent or teen were examined. Twice each hour, across two 4-day recording intervals, participants in a longitudinal study of stress and health risks logged their behaviors, moods, and social contexts. Those with high, in contrast to low, ADHD symptom levels recorded more negative and fewer positive moods, lower alertness, more entertaining activities relative to achievement-oriented pursuits, more time with friends and less time with family, and more tobacco and alcohol use. Fewer associations emerged with parent-defined than with teen-defined subgroups, although the differences in alertness, peer and family contexts, entertainment versus achievement activities, and substance use were consistent across sources. Even at subclinical levels, ADHD characteristics were associated with behavioral patterns and contexts that may promote peer deviancy training, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, and vulnerability to nicotine dependence.

Activities of Daily Living↗